tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71075492018-05-29T01:59:38.824-06:00Cathy Darling's Pure Art StudioOriginal traditional, impressionistic and whimsical paintings in acrylic or watercolor medium by artist Catherine Darling Hostetter. Works on canvas, gessoed board and watercolor paper.
Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-28977043340375654782016-09-02T22:57:00.000-06:002016-09-02T22:57:50.507-06:00On the 2nd Day of SeptemberTwas the 2nd Day of the (29 Faces) Challenge &nbsp;and I barely managed to do a quick little painting; scan it, blog it and post it - get it online before the clock strikes 12!<br />This painting was done in watercolor with colored pencils and a stamp.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-geyZdtyDw7g/V8pXI7e3KSI/AAAAAAAAA9c/spaltRchUsUn9xODwT6qk9VStHnNCVbtQCLcB/s1600/Girl-in-Bluesz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-geyZdtyDw7g/V8pXI7e3KSI/AAAAAAAAA9c/spaltRchUsUn9xODwT6qk9VStHnNCVbtQCLcB/s320/Girl-in-Bluesz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Girl in Blue</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-5721288424893062302016-09-02T11:47:00.001-06:002016-09-02T11:47:49.896-06:00Getting Back in the Groove!After being the child care provider for my little granddaughter for the past 5 years, Miss Lily started Kindergarten! That has freed me up to make a heck of a lot more effort towards my art adventures.<br />Hooray! I will miss my daily dose of Lily Rain, but I still get to see her a lot as she lives right above my place.<br /><br />A few years back I joined a facebook group called 29 Faces with Ayala Art. Currently there is a September Challenge to paint a face a day. I painted one yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it.<br />So here it is.... I love challenges because they help me to paint daily and explore mediums.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XBJkLf0O8Y8/V8m4_Zv6kAI/AAAAAAAAA88/yIWY5cJhlsUrb96XHZVIjbKG5VQOiiuoQCLcB/s1600/gardensz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XBJkLf0O8Y8/V8m4_Zv6kAI/AAAAAAAAA88/yIWY5cJhlsUrb96XHZVIjbKG5VQOiiuoQCLcB/s320/gardensz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A Few More Days of Summer</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Watercolor</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">One thing I wanted to experiment &nbsp;with is painting on a DIY absorbent ground.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I had a book of watercolor paper that I didn't like the way it absorbed the paint, so I decided to paint the ground on it and see what happens. The ground is not as absorbent as paper of course, but I liked the way I could lift off the colors. I think I will paint all my 29 faces with this ground and see where it goes and what I learn about it. I am also trying to paint a bit more loosely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-79340865195761483452016-07-02T18:11:00.000-06:002016-07-02T18:11:15.361-06:00Are Commissions Scary? Tips on doing Portrait CommissionsAre commissions scary? Well in several ways they can be, especially if it is a portrait of someone. &nbsp;I have done quite a number of portrait commission and I still worry about getting a good likeness. I can't help but wonder if the person who commissioned me will be pleased with the painting. So yes, I kinda think doing commissions can be scary, but not enough to say "no" to one!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b0WaBevXeyY/V3g5eJJ0_oI/AAAAAAAAA8k/6HMzcG4Nij8oudEPqqzShOiLqQCVt7U7QCLcB/s1600/Alice5x7int.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b0WaBevXeyY/V3g5eJJ0_oI/AAAAAAAAA8k/6HMzcG4Nij8oudEPqqzShOiLqQCVt7U7QCLcB/s320/Alice5x7int.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />This past week I completed a commission of a darling little girl named Alice. &nbsp;The painting is done in watercolor and it was commissioned locally, but in the past I have had quite a few requests from online. Over the years I have come up with some guidelines that I follow to insure success with the client.<br /><br /><b>1.</b> <b>Get to know something about the client and the subject of the portrait.</b><br />Whether I am meeting with them in person or am corresponding through email, I ask about the person they wish me to paint. Getting to know something of the personality is helpful, because I rarely get to meet the subject in person. I also find out what is the occasion for the commission. In this case it is for Alice's birthday and she is the client's granddaughter.<br /><br /><b>2.</b> <b>What does the client want included in the portrait?</b><br />The client gave me a photo of Alice and I asked if he wanted me to crop the photo so that it was a more traditional portrait of face and shoulders, or would he like the pose as shown? As they often do, he asked me what I thought. I explained my preference for the whole pose because I thought it added more of a story about Alice. He agreed (obviously!). I then asked what size he wanted it done in. The client was going to get it framed himself. A lot of times people are not familiar with standard frame sizes, so I showed the client how different sizes would look. He ended up choosing an 11"x14" painting and it would fit in a 16"x20" frame with mat.<br /><br />I also asked if he wanted the same background in the photo or would he like to choose other colors for the background. He wanted to keep it the same as the photo. It's best to confirm what you are going to paint!<br /><br /><b>3.</b> <b>Keep the Client updated.</b><br />I asked for the client's email address with a promise that I would email him the drawing to get his approval before painting it. I also asked when he would like it finished by. It was &nbsp;the third week of June, and he said Alice's birthday was in mid-August and they were going to California to celebrate it with her. I estimated my commitments for the next little while and told him I could have it done by the first of August. It is best to make sure you allow yourself enough time. Then if you get it done sooner, the client will be pleasantly surprised.<br /><br />I asked Mr. Client if he would like me to email a photo of the finished painting. He chose to be surprised &nbsp;and see it when he came to pay for it.<br />Normally I charge 20 -25% of the purchase price upfront (non refundable) and collect the balance when the painting is finished. A lot of work can go into doing a commission and this insures that your efforts are covered in the event of a cancellation. Don't forget to mention that you will collect tax on the purchase price.<br /><br /><b>4.</b> <b>Drawing the subject.</b><br />This is where I spend the most time of the whole process. It is very critical to get the best drawing you can do before you start painting. I usually draw it, then wait til the next day to look at it again. It seems with a fresh view I can fine-tune the features so that I get a very good likeness. I used to not do the second step and quickly realized how important it was. Once finished I take a picture of it and email it to the client for approval.<br /><br />Don't be too discouraged if the client suggests a few changes. For this commission it was approved as I had drawn it, but in the past I have had suggestions given. I found this was very helpful, especially since one of them was a commission from the internet. I usually only get to see one photo of the subject, but the client knows the person and their personality so their suggestions help me create a better portrait.<br /><br /><b>5.</b> <b>Ready to paint!</b><br />Tips on materials: Make sure you use quality paints and paper/canvas for your commission. If you use a student grade paper or watercolor paint, you will fight with the lack of quality and it's just not worth your time and can affect the quality of your painting.<b>&nbsp;</b><br />Make sure you don't rush through the painting process. You owe it to your client to do your best work and it should be fun!<br /><br /><b>6.</b> <b>Finished!&nbsp;</b><br />Once I was finished, I made sure I had fulfilled all the client's requests. For the Alice commission, the client requested a Certificate of Authenticity. Some artists always include these with their artwork, but if you don't there are numerous websites that offer templates to download. In this case I used a COA from an online group I belong to.<br /><br /><b>7. Packaging.&nbsp;</b><br />Because this was a local commission, I placed the painting on foam core that was cut to the size of the painting. As previously mentioned the painting was 11"x14" and I allowed an extra 1/2 inch on each side so that I could tape the paper down for painting. That way no white edges would show through the mat when the tape was removed. I then either use clear plastic envelopes to protect the painting or wrap it in cellophane. I sign my name on the back of the watercolor paper with the title and date it.<br />On the back of the foam core I attach one of my business cards as well as the Certificate of Authenticity.<br /><br /><b>8.</b> <b>Success!</b><br />The client was very pleased with the painting, and noted that he loved my style and felt that I had carried it across to the commission. He chose two of my blank cards with images of my artwork for family birthdays, etc and I told him that they were my gift to him for giving me the commission. With my online sales, I usually include one of my blank cards as well when I ship a commission. I always feel very grateful when someone purchases my art, so I like to give them a little gift!<br /><br />So is painting a commission scary? Not if you do the best you can and communicate well with the client. Oh and one more thing, I charge a little more for commissions than I do for artwork that I create for the gallery. I do this because of all the additional steps that are involved when working with a client.<br /><br />One more thing... I practice drawing people all the time so that I can improve my skills and I would recommend that to anyone who is interested in doing portraiture.<br /><br /><b>My largest commission ever?</b><br />The largest commission I have ever done was a cow painted on a 4'x8' piece of plywood that a client wanted for the side of his barn in New York. Shipping was a bit tricky but I managed!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-53806245835969446282016-05-17T09:52:00.001-06:002016-05-17T21:56:14.506-06:00Exciting Things Going on in May!<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 24pt;">M</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">ay is slipping away, but before it's totally gone, I need to tell you a couple of exciting things! First I have been working very hard for my show up at the University of Utah's Pioneer Theater Company's Loge Gallery (whew! that's a mouthful). It's now in full swing and here are the details:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“Artful Miscellany”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7qrMo3ZpM_o/Vzs6ujIpwII/AAAAAAAAA8M/hEC8e5NLbSUGeA_xZhdlQW7Amkgggm3VQCLcB/s1600/AffirMEtions-sz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7qrMo3ZpM_o/Vzs6ujIpwII/AAAAAAAAA8M/hEC8e5NLbSUGeA_xZhdlQW7Amkgggm3VQCLcB/s320/AffirMEtions-sz.jpg" width="122" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"AffirMEtions"</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Featuring the art from Irene Rampton and Catherine Darling Hostetter.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">This collection will be on display during PTC’s production of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” May 6 through May 21, 2016.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">For full details click on this&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pioneertheatre.org/loge-gallery/" target="_blank">link</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Please note that you do not have to attend the production, the theater is open during business hours Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The Loge Gallery is on the 2nd level.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">So, enough about me! I have another exciting thing to announce... Do you like night photography. What's that, you ask?&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-27nnRGcqugo/VzstNK-Rj7I/AAAAAAAAA74/YmSMFVw043Yy-K-7JSgR2qMSmE55JmnOQCKgB/s1600/Shayne%2BShaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-27nnRGcqugo/VzstNK-Rj7I/AAAAAAAAA74/YmSMFVw043Yy-K-7JSgR2qMSmE55JmnOQCKgB/s320/Shayne%2BShaw.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">On May 25th, Shayne Shaw, an award winning photographer will teach&nbsp;how&nbsp;to photograph the amazing night skies. Shooting almost any subject at night can add mystery, intrigue, and a special beauty that shooting the same subject during the daylight can’t match. In particular you will learn how to capture the beauty and majesty of the Milky Way along with light painting an interesting foreground landscape feature.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Topics covered include:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Best lenses and equipment for shooting at night</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Proper&nbsp;camera&nbsp;settings</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">How to find and forecast the position of the Milky Way</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">How to compose and focus at night</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">How to properly light paint foreground landscape features&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Don't miss it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Date: May 25th&nbsp;6:30 pm</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Location: Local Colors of Utah Gallery in Sugar House (1054 E. 2100 S., Salt Lake City)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Cost: $35</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Register&nbsp;<a href="http://www.localcolorsart.com/content/shoot-stars-workshop" target="_blank">here</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-42015769429614524922016-04-06T16:22:00.001-06:002016-04-06T16:22:32.869-06:00Cathy Darling's Pure Art Studio: Where Does the Time Go?<a href="http://catherinedarling.blogspot.com/2016/04/where-does-time-go.html?spref=bl">Cathy Darling's Pure Art Studio: Where Does the Time Go?</a>: The past couple of months have just flown by! My workshop "Follow Your Inspiration" was a lot of fun and I got to know some really...<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-21944349195880118462016-04-06T15:47:00.000-06:002016-04-06T16:20:53.150-06:00Where Does the Time Go?The past couple of months have just flown by! My workshop "Follow Your Inspiration" was a lot of fun and I got to know some really wonderful ladies from it. That was in February! Since then I have been busily painting for an upcoming show in May at the University of Utah's Loge Gallery.<br /><br />But what I really want to tell you today is that I have been a featured artist at Local Colors of Utah this past month. There is a reception this Friday during the Sugar House Art Walk.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o3mz3KGaa40/VwWDBsBdFpI/AAAAAAAAA7I/NR_a5h5vKXEcGEjKqAV-1j0lmSW_FZldg/s1600/d0ccf348-d239-4e76-80f6-6fae997a4c31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o3mz3KGaa40/VwWDBsBdFpI/AAAAAAAAA7I/NR_a5h5vKXEcGEjKqAV-1j0lmSW_FZldg/s320/d0ccf348-d239-4e76-80f6-6fae997a4c31.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The gallery is located at 1054 E. 2100 S. in Salt Lake City.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hope you can come!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-83754825727475740982016-02-17T11:23:00.001-07:002016-02-17T11:23:31.780-07:00Cathy Darling's Pure Art Studio: The Art of Dreaming Big<a href="http://catherinedarling.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-art-of-dreaming-big.html?spref=bl">Cathy Darling's Pure Art Studio: The Art of Dreaming Big</a>: &nbsp;O ver a year ago I came to the conclusion that I needed to make some changes in my life. I am an artist, used to be full time u...<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-7022277143707202252016-02-17T09:15:00.001-07:002016-02-17T09:15:21.749-07:00The Art of Dreaming Big<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pJQMF5_vH08/VsSaT1S9xHI/AAAAAAAAA5o/ys7A0oUwBKw/s1600/1sheepszsm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pJQMF5_vH08/VsSaT1S9xHI/AAAAAAAAA5o/ys7A0oUwBKw/s320/1sheepszsm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: x-large;">&nbsp;O</span>ver a year ago I came to the conclusion that I needed to make some changes in my life. I am an artist, used to be full time until I started doing daycare for grandkids about 4 1/2 years ago. Although doing childcare full time, I could still get a little art time in here and there.<div><br /></div><div>As my darling granddaughter turns 5 this year and kindergarten looms ahead, my thoughts turned to making better use of my art time. For several years, I told myself that this is the 'season' for grandkids and my art was put on the back burner, so to speak.</div><div><br /></div><div>In order to get more organized with my art, I started reading books geared for success and self improvement. I soon realized that my life could be whatever I chose it to be! I begin to think about what I wanted to accomplish with my art, something that I hadn't thought about since pre-child care. Surprisingly I found my mind blank regarding art goals. As I studied more, goals began to emerge and I began to take control of my life, rather than life controlling me.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I started dreaming big, as big a dream as I could think of. I continued to study and as I focused on my art dream, ideas and opportunities started coming my way. It is all pretty exciting!&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>This Friday, I am teaching a workshop for the Utah Watercolor Society (in case you missed my earlier posts!) and it is all about zero-ing in on becoming the artist that you want to be and branding your art with your unique flair.</div><div>There are still a few seats left, it's not too late to join the fun. Come on, take charge of your art life and dream big with me!</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;"><span class="heading" style="color: #996600; font-size: 15px;">Catherine Darling Hostetter</span><span class="bodyleft" style="color: black; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; left: auto;"><br /><strong>February 19-20</strong><br />Learn how to use your imagination to personalize and add the unexpected to your watercolor style. Catherine focuses on animals and people in her artwork and often combines them with a whimsical twist. You will learn how let go and use your imagination with fun exercises. Follow your inspiration; where even the most traditional artist can incorporate creative ideas into their style!</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;"><div class="bodyleft" style="color: black; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; left: auto;"><strong><a href="http://www.utahwatercolor.org/mini_workshop_hostetter_2016.html" style="color: #993300;"><em>For more information click here</em></a></strong></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-33274108061425894412016-02-15T10:47:00.003-07:002016-02-15T10:47:53.499-07:00The Art WithinI am preparing for my workshop this Friday and Saturday and I am really excited!&nbsp;I have so much to share! This workshop is not about teaching you how to paint like me, but it is about teaching how to reach into your subconscious mind and really make your artwork you! I have always thought that in order to stand out in the art world, you either have to paint exceptionally well, or you put yourself into it so it stands out uniquely from other artwork. Not that you can't do both, but perfecting our craft takes much practice. Meanwhile...<div><br /></div><div>We can arrive at being unique in our art now. My students will deepen their understanding on how to listen to our inner voice and have the courage to paint what we think, This can apply to the most traditional artist. We will do fun painting exercises that make you really think.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>I believe goals are important and we will&nbsp;talk about our goals as artists. Lewis Carroll wrote: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there". I love that each of us are beautiful, unique individuals and when we apply this to our art, we share that beauty!</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3o2MrqxJlo/VsILjF3U4vI/AAAAAAAAA5U/51DOgc8KeVA/s1600/Anyroad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3o2MrqxJlo/VsILjF3U4vI/AAAAAAAAA5U/51DOgc8KeVA/s320/Anyroad.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Only a few seats left! To join me for this workshop adventure, click on this link!&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ebx83z9r6a1c3d1f&amp;c=2181c510-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a&amp;ch=218595a0-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a" id="lnkMoreInfo" shape="rect" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank" title="Get more information">Get more information</a>&nbsp;</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;"><br /></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;"><br /></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;"><br /></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">See you soon!</span></strong></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-59369926728401177902016-02-06T18:56:00.000-07:002016-02-06T19:02:54.983-07:00It's All About You and Your Imagination!<!--Copyright (c) 1996-2016 Constant Contact. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under a separate written agreement with Constant Contact, neither the Constant Contact software, nor any content that appears on any Constant Contact site, including but not limited to, web pages, newsletters, or templates may be reproduced, republished, repurposed, or distributed without the prior written permission of Constant Contact. For inquiries regarding reproduction or distribution of any Constant Contact material, please contact legal@constantcontact.com.--><img src="http://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?ca=8fa57271-306c-42ca-a844-371a2a21a418&amp;a=1101758837240&amp;d=1123712765426&amp;r=3&amp;o=http://ui.constantcontact.com/images/p1x1.gif&amp;c=2181c510-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a&amp;ch=218595a0-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a" height="1" width="1" /> <br /><div align="center" id="rootDiv"><table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="body" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" class="TemplateWidth" style="width: 600px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK5" style="margin-bottom: 5px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="MainText" id="evm-content-maintext" style="color: grey; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">I have a workshop coming up for the Utah Watercolor Society!</span></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vN-uLx9URFk/Vralv1hykzI/AAAAAAAAA48/TEq6xi11zxY/s1600/dancingwithdogssz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vN-uLx9URFk/Vralv1hykzI/AAAAAAAAA48/TEq6xi11zxY/s320/dancingwithdogssz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img alt="Utah Watercolor Society" border="0" src="http://files.ctctcdn.com/8f1b1f58001/b858bec9-e26e-4817-80af-827c4dc631f8.jpg" height="43" hspace="5" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.221" vspace="5" width="50" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="left" bgcolor="#ffffff" class="MainBorder" style="padding: 1px;" valign="top"><table bgcolor="#ffffac" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MainBodyBG" id="evm-header-container" style="background-color: #ffffac; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" width="100%"><table bgcolor="#ffffac" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin EventTitleBG" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK19" style="margin-bottom: 5px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="CompanyName" id="evm-invite-event-title" style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><b>Follow Your Inspiration with Catherine Darling Hostetter</b></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table bgcolor="#ffffac" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MainBodyBG" style="background-color: #ffffac; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="LeftColWidth" style="width: 205px;" valign="top" width="205"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 205px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="LeftColPad" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="205"><table bgcolor="#c8c8c8" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="EventInfoBG BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK3" style="background-color: #c8c8c8; margin-bottom: 5px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" id="evm-lcol-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div><div style="color: #8c2000;"><span id="evm-lcol-title-when" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>When</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #8c2000;"><b>February 19-20th</b></span></div></div><div style="color: #595500; font-size: 10pt;"><div><span style="color: maroon;"></span><div><span style="color: maroon;"><span style="color: #8c2000; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>9-4 PM each day</strong></span></span></div><span style="color: maroon;"><div style="color: #8c2000;"><br /></div></span></div><span class="cc-calendar" style="color: blue; font-size: 10pt;"><a alt="http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/addtocalendar?oeidk=a07ebx83z9r6a1c3d1f" class="cc-calendar" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001mUwpJd63wxsOz8QvC_Q2dXcGAW9LYXGudqQFJeBCLBqnmaESVJg5hJ4zvX8FHj3YsRyRRAKu-pWqPMDhLlTT15Gb--gNrpcFqcBUZHBceeJu48KJQDX7yI48ItOU5R169AehuRyNq01ZH0dyG1lP7wcANxpka6b2weQvJcXxVQYIfaAuayyk1bo_88tKAfZfXHfFHihL3tiZU6M3UU3OLDphdc1WWs5fdsPCsi7Gdsz1yeVN6Y836lIZbWEMbMLcig2dlthp6Vk=&amp;c=H7oZ8hmoQGts9JAiIxdGinXxNEJem3kY0Nf8UqzAdntwTawhYzP0zA==&amp;ch=ky7rcYXa9539JFfIyYV9pyLkE-9dcLvG2kK95fu4mFbYvVajjXYElA==" id="lnkAddToCalendar" shape="rect" style="color: blue; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank" title="Add to Calendar">Add to Calendar</a></span></div><div></div><br /><div class="EventInfoTitle" id="evm-lcol-title-where" style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #8c2000;"><b>Where</b></span></div><b>Sons of Pioneers Building</b><br />3301 East Louise Ave<br />3301 E 2920 S<br />Salt Lake City, UT 84109<br /><span style="display: block; height: 200px; width: 200px;"></span> </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td align="left" class="RightColWidth" style="width: 385px;" valign="top" width="385"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="RightColWidth" style="width: 385px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="LeftColPad" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK7" style="margin-bottom: 5px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="MainText" id="evm-content-maintext" style="color: grey; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div align="center"><img border="0" src="http://files.ctctcdn.com/8f1b1f58001/a2c172bb-6d4d-40b9-b709-e370b4e253d7.jpg" height="262" hspace="5" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.663" vspace="5" width="350" /></div><br /><div class="_mce_tagged_br"><span style="color: #323232; font-size: 12pt;"><strong></strong></span><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #323232; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>*With professional guidance, Catherine Hostetter will have you creating fun and exciting artworks during this 2 day workshop! </strong></span></div><span style="color: #323232; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">*Tap into your imagination and be inspired to learn how to incorporate some unique creative ideas. &nbsp;Even the most traditional artists will learn how to tap into their creative mind.</div><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">*You won't want to miss this whimsical, fun filled workshop. </div><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">*Let Catherine inspire you to let loose! &nbsp;Come and &nbsp;explore your options with fellow artists!</div><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">Don't miss this creative opportunity!</div><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">Register Today!</div></strong></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK5" style="margin-bottom: 5px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><div><strong><a href="http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ebx83z9r6a1c3d1f&amp;c=2181c510-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a&amp;ch=218595a0-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a" id="lnkMoreInfo" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank" title="Get more information">Get more information</a></strong></div></td></tr><tr><td align="center" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><div><b><a href="http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/regform?oeidk=a07ebx83z9r6a1c3d1f&amp;c=2181c510-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a&amp;ch=218595a0-feb3-11e2-8ab1-d4ae5292c38a" id="lnkRegister" shape="rect" style="color: blue; font-size: 14pt;" target="_blank" title="Register Now!">Register On-line Now!</a></b></div></td></tr><tr><td align="center" style="color: #8c2000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><div>It's Easy!</div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK6" style="margin-bottom: 5px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" id="evm-content-maintext2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div style="color: #8c2000; font-size: 12pt;">If you have any questions, contact:</div><div style="color: #8c2000; font-size: 12pt;">Cynthia Powell</div><div><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>artists4ever@gmail.com</strong></span></div><div style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>801-674-9503</strong></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div align="center" id="footerContainer" style="background-color: white;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jN_PWIXMb6g/VraiWNHk4NI/AAAAAAAAA4w/73mGAdb9-YI/s1600/followsz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jN_PWIXMb6g/VraiWNHk4NI/AAAAAAAAA4w/73mGAdb9-YI/s320/followsz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="left" id="LETTER.PHYSICALADDRESS" style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-top: 12px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , sans-serif;">Utah Watercolor Society<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>PO Box 581005<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>Salt Lake City<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>UT<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>84158-1005</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-90940772241457901802016-01-04T18:58:00.000-07:002016-01-05T08:47:41.102-07:00I am the Guest Artist at the Utah Watercolor Society Meeting!I love the Utah Watercolor Society! I get to start the New Year with them sharing some tips on drawing from within to add your own uniqueness to your paintings. Then in February I am teaching a workshop titled "Follow Your Inspiration". &nbsp;What fun! Join us at the meeting tomorrow night- see the info below for details. I will also be talking about setting some artistic goals for the new year. If you are not a member of UWS, come check it out, there is no charge to attend the meeting.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qq4DI011N_c/VovlMyS_9oI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/2E4te1QW_vo/s1600/FollowYourInspiration-sz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qq4DI011N_c/VovlMyS_9oI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/2E4te1QW_vo/s320/FollowYourInspiration-sz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><!--Copyright (c) 1996-2016 Constant Contact. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under a separate written agreement with Constant Contact, neither the Constant Contact software, nor any content that appears on any Constant Contact site, including but not limited to, web pages, newsletters, or templates may be reproduced, republished, repurposed, or distributed without the prior written permission of Constant Contact. For inquiries regarding reproduction or distribution of any Constant Contact material, please contact legal@constantcontact.com.--> <br /><div id="rootDiv"><div align="center"><table bgcolor="#f7e7ea" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="body" style="background-color: #f7e7ea; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 20px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" class="TemplateWidth" style="width: 600px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="TemplatePad" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="Title" style="color: #2c050c; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;" valign="bottom"><img alt="Utah Watercolor Society" border="0" hspace="0" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs062/1101758837240/img/220.jpg" /> </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="left" bgcolor="#008887" class="MainBorder" style="background-color: #008887; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px;" valign="top"><table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MainBG" style="background-color: white; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="TemplatePad" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK2" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="color: #173761; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;"><div>Utah Watercolor Society Announcement</div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK11" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" style="color: #008887; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 22pt;" valign="top"><div align="center" style="text-align: center;">REMINDER:</div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #3fa09f;">JANUARY MEMBERS MEETING AND DEMONSTRATION</span></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK10" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="imgCaptionTable OneColumnMobile" data-padding-converted="true" style="text-align: center; width: 598px;"><tbody><tr><td class=" imgCaptionImg" style="padding-top: 20px;" width="1%"><div align="center"><img border="0" src="http://files.ctctcdn.com/8f1b1f58001/a5e2d8e2-4c3a-4206-80dc-c74b4f98a989.jpg" hspace="0" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.1185" width="598" /></div></td></tr><tr><td class="imgCaptionText" style="font-family: serif; padding-bottom: 20px;">&nbsp;"Follow Your Inspiration" </td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK13" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="MainText" style="color: #580b18; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" valign="top"><div align="center" style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="color: #008887;">CATHERINE DARLING HOSTETTER DEMONSTRATION</span>&nbsp;</b></span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">Be prepared to get involved and splash some paint on January 5th with <span style="color: #008887;">Past President Catherine Darling Hostetter!</span> Let Catherine help you, "Follow Your Inspiration: Learn how to use your imagination to personalize and add the unexpected to your watercolor style." </div><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">Catherine focuses on animals and people in her artwork- often with a whimsical twist. Come learn how to follow your inspiration; where even the most traditional artist can incorporate creative ideas into their style! You will learn how to let go and use your imagination with our fun Creative Challenge!</div><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">We will be dividing up in 3 teams and inviting some audience members to participate!&nbsp; Everyone will be on a team! Who's team will you be on; Team Catherine, Team Colleen (Reynolds) or Team Tom (Howard)? Join us for a fun night creating paintings from our imaginations!</div>&nbsp;<span style="color: #3fa09f;">JANUARY 5TH&nbsp; 7 PM</span></div><div align="center" style="color: #033303; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">Sons of Utah Pioneers Hall</div><div align="center" style="color: #033303; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">3301 E. Louise Ave (2920 S.)</div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #033303; font-size: 11pt;">Salt Lake City, UT 84109</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="left" bgcolor="#4d77bc" class="FooterBG TemplatePad" style="background-color: #4d77bc; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK6" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="Info" style="color: #f7e7ea; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div><b>Utah Watercolor Society</b></div><div>PO Box 581005</div><div>Salt Lake City, Utah 84158-1005</div><div><a alt="http://www.utahwatercolor.org" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001BAkXCk_rp7aypemVFF-y5hjKBqXYl0RJUZVHty_xpvqiD55OASE9LPwToZU9jItskHA6zc6FyfPSxEHAR8IUhhD4zvUWysXHh62bWc7TmpWqx0dugJ3c3MnvdgsMFa7qvxle0JJsV9QJ3_srbKe8bu59OQGH_lYgjt8r1lBv_mXmaZdIyxNSRQ==&amp;c=rmz4s0BGXF1xnXZLrlYxtI3IxJkczr4msRhLwM_zIji_IcGwa0-6Tg==&amp;ch=7OYKcnglH10d41Ax6cvWpRUD_oZni65pza_iI30gC6nWclmX24RxVg==" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">www.utahwatercolor.org</a><br /><a href="mailto:info@utahwatercolor.org" linktype="2" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">info@utahwatercolor.org</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="left" height="10" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="Spacer" height="15" style="height: 15px;" valign="top"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div align="center" id="footerContainer" style="background-color: white;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="footerPanelWrap" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top"><div align="center" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 620px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td><br /></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="620"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color: black; font-family: verdana,arial; font-size: 8pt; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td><div id="LETTER.PHYSICALADDRESS" style="font-size: 8pt;"><br />Utah Watercolor Society<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>PO Box 581005<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>Salt Lake City<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>UT<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>84158-1005</div></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td><img alt="" border="0" height="5" hspace="0" src="https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/1101116784221/S.gif" width="1" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-41830204702724387152015-10-19T21:40:00.000-06:002015-10-19T21:58:08.125-06:00Going 60 MPHI am moving along at 60 <i>MPH</i> -(<b><i>M</i></b>ature <b><i>P</i></b>ersonal <b><i>H</i></b>appiness)!<br /><br />Saturday was my 60th birthday. Holy Cow! that seems old, but I really don't feel any different than I did, say... 30 years ago! Or maybe even 45 years ago. This was especially noted when I had breakfast with my elementary school friends. You'd think we were still school girls- at least we thought so until a young woman came up to our table and referred to us as elderly ladies! (She came back and apologized later).<br /><br />A couple of my friends commented that this (60th) birthday bothered them. I guess it did me too, since I had started thinking about it several months ago. My grandmother had passed away at 65, which at the time seemed old to my 17 year old mind. Now, it seems pretty young!<br /><br />I have to admit that I have been dying my hair for years to cover that "<i>premature</i> grey". Now that I can honestly claim it, I decided to bleach out the color and let it grow in naturally. I am now a platinum blonde with my new/old(?) hair color growing out happily unchecked.<br /><br />Here is a watercolor painting of my grandmother that I painted 12 or 13 years ago.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rDHWG9471Yc/ViWsvNVJ5sI/AAAAAAAAA3s/DVOUEQJi-SQ/s1600/Grandma1sz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rDHWG9471Yc/ViWsvNVJ5sI/AAAAAAAAA3s/DVOUEQJi-SQ/s320/Grandma1sz.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><br />Grandma was a wonderful cook and introduced me to many a comfort food. Thinking about her made me seriously consider my health and weight. Too many cookies for me in the past few years! I really don't want to be a fat round little old lady at 60. So I am now participating in a 'biggest loser' contest with my family. To date, I have lost 25 lbs with a number of pounds left to lose <i>that won't be named</i>.<br /><br />So it's official now, I am buzzing along at 60 mph. I am determined to make the best of the next 30 years, enjoying my age and not shaving my legs anymore (just kidding!)<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-11844852903360945582015-05-15T16:05:00.005-06:002015-05-15T16:09:14.498-06:00Retrospect: Two Weeks Gone ByI do intend to write in my blog more often, but before you know it a week has passed and then another. Tonight I am heading to Bountiful, Utah for the BDAC Statewide Show and Grand Opening of their new facility. I was fortunate to have a painting selected to be in the show. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of if before I took it in. I will get one tonight.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u9Fs-2ttlIM/VVZpR3od-VI/AAAAAAAAA28/uwF-bQqEY24/s1600/Calissa3sz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u9Fs-2ttlIM/VVZpR3od-VI/AAAAAAAAA28/uwF-bQqEY24/s320/Calissa3sz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mother's Day Gift</i> by Catherine Darling Hostetter</div><br />Recently I finished a portrait for a girl in Canada. It is to be a gift for Mother's Day for her mom. Due to longer shipping times from the US to Canada, it will get there late. She ordered it a week and a couple of days before Mother's day and I shipped it the Wednesday before MD.<br /><br />As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I am reading and studying a book called 'Success Principles'. My goal was to read a chapter a day and really try to change all my habits into positive ones. I am on Chapter 6 (obviously not a chapter a day), and I have come to realize if you really want to do something life changing, you can't restrict it to a chapter a day. So I decided I need to focus on a chapter until I feel like I really get it.<br /><br />I am currently working on a painting titled "Walk With Me" it is about half way done and is acrylic on cradled panel. I plan on finishing it tomorrow, and making at least one print of it to frame and donate to a fundraiser. I should have a picture of it to post in the next few days.<br /><br />In June our Gallery, Local Colors of Utah is having a group show of our artists and we are doing a 'Green' Theme. The art has to be made of recycled or re-purposed items to be in the show. After I finish the "Walk With Me" piece, I will start on my upcyled piece. Busy times ahead!<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-53993353988975182442015-04-27T10:32:00.000-06:002015-04-27T10:33:39.657-06:00Success is in Your Head, if You Want to Dig it Out!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-StL2K6wciJI/VT5dEC-5wMI/AAAAAAAAA2g/4PL_3JA38QA/s1600/followsz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-StL2K6wciJI/VT5dEC-5wMI/AAAAAAAAA2g/4PL_3JA38QA/s1600/followsz.jpg" height="206" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>"Follow Your Inspiration"</i>&nbsp; Catherine Darling Hostetter</span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span><span style="font-size: large;">his weekend I was reviewing what I had coming up on my calendar, and realized that I am not accomplishing nearly enough. I am one of those artists that is not the most organized. I thought "what am I going to do to change this situation"!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I remembered a few months back when my son and I were reading a book together, called <i><b>The Success Principles</b></i> by Jack Canfield. I recalled during the time that as I was studying it and applying it's principles to my artistic existence, I was accomplishing more and felt very productive in all aspects of my life.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">So... I dragged the book out yesterday and determined to read a chapter a day and work it like I was going to school with assignments and all. This time through the book, however, I am not going to read it and then forget what I learned. I will diligently try to make it a part of my life habits. Having experienced already that if I don't focus and make a goal of this, I will fall back into old habits. I know that for a fact, it's the story of my life!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Chapter 1: Take 100% Responsibility of Your Life. &nbsp;Don't worry I am not going to go through the whole book here on my blog. But I will summarized some of the amazing info found there.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I would like to quote from the book something that made a lot of sense...</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>"Ninety nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses"</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>George Washington Carver</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Great advice, take accountability for your own choices and don't make excuses. Another great insight from the book - If you don't like your outcomes, change your response. Sure, a lot of things happen in our lives that we don't have direct control of , but we do have the choice to determine how we respond to it.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">The last thing I want to mention is: You have to give up blaming and complaining.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">That's it for today. If anyone is interested in joining me as I change my life and would like to change yours, get yourself a copy of the book, and lets go for it!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-36634998568635710032015-04-24T11:52:00.000-06:002015-04-24T11:52:06.485-06:00Art Mingled with Friday<div style="text-align: center;">I consider my Fridays my day off. In addition to working in Local Colors of Utah art gallery as president and working on my art whenever I can, I tend my handicapped grandson Anthony 4 days a week, for 3 hours each day Monday - Thursday. Plus this month I have my 3 year old grand-daughter, Lily Rain during the weekdays. She lives in Portland OR with her mama and is here to visit.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Being an artist is nice because I am able to be flexible for my family and grandkids.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So what am I doing today? Well next Friday I am participating in a fundraising event hosted by the Bradley Center at the South Towne Mall in Sandy, Utah. Today I am getting art ready for that event.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Bradley Center supports children who have lost one or both parents. 30% of the sales go to the Bradley Center. Come see me next week!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RRe35uS0FE4/VTqA--QB67I/AAAAAAAAA14/JwFaGjtg79M/s1600/Bradley-Centersz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RRe35uS0FE4/VTqA--QB67I/AAAAAAAAA14/JwFaGjtg79M/s1600/Bradley-Centersz.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another particularly nice thing about today is that I am a featured artist on <a href="http://www.jenniferloveartwork.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Love's Blog!</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jenny is a good friend and has interviewed me and featured some of my art.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As she said we are kindred spirits, which I totally agree.:-)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have been thinking of doing features on other artists and <a href="http://www.jenniferloveartwork.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer</a> has provided a great example of how to do it!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also on my friday agenda is to paint a couple of paintings I have been working on. I hope to get them done for the show next week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DVeBsO_UnGM/VTp_xtJrmmI/AAAAAAAAA1w/1E3I3tNf5W8/s1600/juggling-lifesz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DVeBsO_UnGM/VTp_xtJrmmI/AAAAAAAAA1w/1E3I3tNf5W8/s1600/juggling-lifesz.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Juggling Life" by Catherine Darling Hostetter</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">How is your friday going?</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-21052415922537873882015-04-13T21:23:00.000-06:002015-04-13T21:32:53.514-06:00Six Sisters and a Dog Painting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--C0ZZwLTvPA/VSyFHgey2CI/AAAAAAAAA08/-JVMjGLLGfs/s1600/Patience-is-a-Beggar's-Virt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--C0ZZwLTvPA/VSyFHgey2CI/AAAAAAAAA08/-JVMjGLLGfs/s1600/Patience-is-a-Beggar's-Virt.jpg" height="266" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Patience is a Beggar's Virtue by Catherine Darling Hostetter</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Do you have a sister? I do and a very good one at that! Saturday I was planning on going to a Utah Watercolor Paint-out in Salt Lake City. They were going to paint train cars. I don't really have a set up for plein air (painting outdoors), so I was looking through all my stuff for something to use (like a folding chair, folding table etc). It wasn't long before I heard my phone ring and guess who? My sister Debbie!<br /><br />She was calling to see if I wanted to go to "What a Woman Wants" at the South Towne Expo Center. My sister is a lot of fun, and I love hanging out with her, so I said yes!<br />We planned on going at 10:00 am and I figured I could make it to the paint-out which was at 1:00 pm.<br /><br />So what does a woman want? Apparently the vendors there thought clothing, jewelry, crafty decorations and essential oils was what was wanted. It was fun to look at all the stuff. I have an art show in a couple of weeks, so I also looked at the way the vendors displayed their merchandise.<br /><br />The WWW show featured guest presenters on stage. One that interested my sister and I were "Six Sisters". They are sisters that grew up in Utah and when they began to reach adulthood and some were getting married and moving out of state. To keep in touch with each other they began sixsistersstuff.com blog. They shared recipes and craft projects and soon they noticed they had a following.<br /><br />Since their blog start in 2011, they have published cookbooks, do blog conferences and I don't know, sounds like they have a lot of fun together. I can understand this having a fun sister myself. Only in their case it's "the more the merrier"!<br /><br />Anyhoo, on Saturday they demonstrated some of their recipes. One that I thought was interesting and tasty (they served samples afterwards) was the <a href="http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/01/skinny-funfetti-cake-batter-dip-recipe.html" target="_blank">Funfetti Cake Batter Dip</a>&nbsp;If you like to lick the bowl when you bake a cake, this dip is for you! You dip Vanilla wafers in the dip. Yum!<br /><br />To make a long story a little shorter, I didn't make it to the paint-out. No worries though, there is always one another day.<br /><br />I mentioned a dog painting in my title, didn't I? My artist friend, Sandi Olson curates an art display at Great Harvest in Sugar House. She asked me to pick up my aspen painting from the last show and to bring in an animal painting. It inspired me to paint a new painting for the show, a cute black lab-mix.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">I titled the painting: Patience is a Beggar's Virtue</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If you are a Salt Lake City local, and love animal paintings visit&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Great Harvest in Sugar House at 21st and 21st.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Be sure and check out the <a href="http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/" target="_blank">Six Sisters blog</a> for lots of yummy looking recipes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-47096435384340160372015-04-06T11:03:00.000-06:002015-04-06T11:05:14.836-06:00Spring has Sprung with Portrait Commissions<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Spring has sprung here in Utah, and I have been keeping</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">busy doing portrait commissions from my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/CathyDarling/tools/listings/213545387" target="_blank">etsy</a> store.&nbsp;</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The first commission came from Canada, a lady asked me to paint in&nbsp;</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">watercolor her son Archie and her baby daughter Rosemary.&nbsp;</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1TufVVllgFs/VSK2XkjRcqI/AAAAAAAAA0c/cv16TsOy2pk/s1600/Archie1sz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1TufVVllgFs/VSK2XkjRcqI/AAAAAAAAA0c/cv16TsOy2pk/s1600/Archie1sz.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jPP5ljqB20Q/VSK2P9bmufI/AAAAAAAAA0U/s81kNeG1FFQ/s1600/Rosemarey4x6sz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jPP5ljqB20Q/VSK2P9bmufI/AAAAAAAAA0U/s81kNeG1FFQ/s1600/Rosemarey4x6sz.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It has been a wonderful opportunity to brush up on my drawing watercolor skills.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">About the same time I received another commission from California to paint a lady's brother and sister in law as a gift for their 25th anniversary.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wu-d_ImJDUY/VSK2eGVLZfI/AAAAAAAAA0k/ZwZXBlX5vvE/s1600/malou03sz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wu-d_ImJDUY/VSK2eGVLZfI/AAAAAAAAA0k/ZwZXBlX5vvE/s1600/malou03sz.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For more information about watercolor portrait commissions, click on<a href="https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/CathyDarling/tools/listings/213545387" target="_blank"> my etsy store!</a></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-1288587140211556682015-02-16T13:29:00.000-07:002015-02-16T13:29:40.837-07:00Daily Painting 5: Experimental<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xGUxtU3Oi9k/VOJMW8Cbt4I/AAAAAAAAAzk/-Icy5ZPEftY/s1600/red%2Bhead%2Baceo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xGUxtU3Oi9k/VOJMW8Cbt4I/AAAAAAAAAzk/-Icy5ZPEftY/s1600/red%2Bhead%2Baceo.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yesterday was Sunday and I decided I will not be doing daily paintings on that day, so here is today's painting. I chose to do a little portrait;&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">&nbsp;size 3.5" x 2.5"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Title: A Red Head</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It is done in watercolor, and I used the same technique that I used on Daily Painting #4</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.catherinedarling.blogspot.com/2015/02/daily-paintings-3-4-trial-and-error.html" target="_blank">Fancy Ewe</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This art card is available for sale&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">$25</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Cform%20target=%22paypal%22%20action=%22https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr%22%20method=%22post%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22cmd%22%20value=%22_s-xclick%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22hosted_button_id%22%20value=%22QG26H62X8CVJA%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22image%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif%22%20border=%220%22%20name=%22submit%22%20alt=%22PayPal%20-%20The%20safer,%20easier%20way%20to%20pay%20online!%22%3E%20%3Cimg%20alt=%22%22%20border=%220%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%3E%20%3C/form%3E" target="_blank">Here</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Free shipping in the US</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-18032271581755254722015-02-14T20:06:00.001-07:002015-02-14T20:06:25.452-07:00Daily Paintings 3 & 4: Trial and Error<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VJN_0mcHVTE/VOAA4WKKIQI/AAAAAAAAAzM/DSDrWfSgjvs/s1600/Fancy%2BEwe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VJN_0mcHVTE/VOAA4WKKIQI/AAAAAAAAAzM/DSDrWfSgjvs/s1600/Fancy%2BEwe.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">I </span>am continuing painting in watercolor. Since these daily paintings are studes, I have been painting on Canson 140 lb. paper. This is not my preference of papers, but I had a pad of this paper so why not use it! I have a few sheets of the really good stuff, but thought I would use it for the Spring Show for the Utah Watercolor Society.<br /><br />The Canson paper is not too bad though, better than some papers. This Canson is not bad if you don't over work it, and if you like to lift color, it is good for that. All in all, I figure if I can learn to paint successfully on this paper, I should do ok on the better paper. Is that logical?<br /><br />So on day three, I painted 3 sheep. I did them with a little landscape behind them. I am not big on doing landscapes, but I have a many friends that are excellent plein air painters, and they go to plein air paint outs and have a lot of fun... so I decided I needed to practice painting landscapes so I could do some plein air this summer.<br /><br />As I did the landscape, I really overworked it. It turned out ok, but it's not my favorite painting. I will show it to you anyway, just because I feel kind of obligated since it's one of my daily paintings.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N2SYy61nn_c/VOAB-PhTWtI/AAAAAAAAAzU/0X9bKL1Zfi4/s1600/landscape%2Bsheepsz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N2SYy61nn_c/VOAB-PhTWtI/AAAAAAAAAzU/0X9bKL1Zfi4/s1600/landscape%2Bsheepsz.jpg" height="188" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Three Sheep</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">6"x 10"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Cform%20target=%22paypal%22%20action=%22https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr%22%20method=%22post%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22cmd%22%20value=%22_s-xclick%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22hosted_button_id%22%20value=%227D6GY5XB686G6%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22image%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif%22%20border=%220%22%20name=%22submit%22%20alt=%22PayPal%20-%20The%20safer,%20easier%20way%20to%20pay%20online!%22%3E%20%3Cimg%20alt=%22%22%20border=%220%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%3E%20%3C/form%3E" target="_blank">$40</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Free Shipping in the US</div><br />You can be sure that I will be working on landscapes again... You know, practice makes perfect, or so I hope! But for Valentines Day I am not going to do a landscape!<br /><br />Oh by the way, I forgot to mention that I may not post daily paintings everyday, just because I figure it is more important to get the painting done for the day, and sometimes that doesn't leave time to blog about it. So today is a double whammy!<br /><br />Watercolor takes a lot of thought, and I decided that my daily painting for today I would put down color and try not to go back to it,so I don't over work it.<br /><br />I drew another sheep, a big woolly one and since the paper is great for lifting, I decided I would do some lifting. I like the way this one turned out. I still overworked the trees in the background though. *sigh*.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VJN_0mcHVTE/VOAA4WKKIQI/AAAAAAAAAzM/DSDrWfSgjvs/s1600/Fancy%2BEwe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VJN_0mcHVTE/VOAA4WKKIQI/AAAAAAAAAzM/DSDrWfSgjvs/s1600/Fancy%2BEwe.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fancy &nbsp;Ewe</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">8" x 10"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Cform%20target=%22paypal%22%20action=%22https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr%22%20method=%22post%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22cmd%22%20value=%22_s-xclick%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22hosted_button_id%22%20value=%228BUE2TELTUYXS%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22image%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif%22%20border=%220%22%20name=%22submit%22%20alt=%22PayPal%20-%20The%20safer,%20easier%20way%20to%20pay%20online!%22%3E%20%3Cimg%20alt=%22%22%20border=%220%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%3E%20%3C/form%3E" target="_blank">$100</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Free shipping in the US</div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-24817439196797922432015-02-12T11:17:00.000-07:002015-02-12T11:31:23.674-07:00Daily Painting 3 - Disaster!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--WH-iEzw8uk/VNzvY1t1NII/AAAAAAAAAy8/9oLuSJMmgG0/s1600/Morning-Angel-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--WH-iEzw8uk/VNzvY1t1NII/AAAAAAAAAy8/9oLuSJMmgG0/s1600/Morning-Angel-small.jpg" height="242" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I was so discouraged with my painting yesterday that I didn't post it. I had a busy schedule with tending my grandson, taking my daughter to the airport, and going to an opening of a friend's show (more about that in a bit!).<br /><br />For my painting subject I picked something that I thought would be fairly easy, a sheep. I have painted many sheep over the years and thought it would fit best in the amount of time I had to paint.<br /><br />It is a watercolor, and I thought I would do a sussex sheep image that I had taken at the State Fair a few years back. I felt in a colorful mood so I started painting the sheepy's head in purple and windsor blue rather than shades of black and grey. I also thought a few flowers would be nice.<br /><br />What I ended up with is a very pastel looking painting, and it was awful! It was time to go and tend my grandson, so I had to leave it. Painting something you don't feel good about is really a downer!<br /><br />Thank goodness I had a reception for an artist friend of mine to go to! Jeff Clay is a wonderful photographer who really puts the art into his photographs. Here's his link: &nbsp;<a href="http://clayhausphotoblog.com/2015/02/06/security-prison-21/" target="_blank">Jeff Clay PhotoBlog</a><br /><br />Jeff has recently returned from Cambodia, and he has photos from there that are featured in his show, along with international scenes as well as the amazing shots of New York, the beauty of southern Utah, and it's northern deserts.<br /><br />Looking at good art always cheers me. Jeff had 75 images in his show! If you want to see it here is the info:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.slcjcc.org/community-events/latest-news-and-updates/item/905-february-artist-jeff-clay-photo-exhibit" target="_blank">Jeff Clay Exhibit</a><br /><br />Ok, so back to my 3rd day of Daily Painting. I woke up this morning kind of blue... like my sheep. So I went to my desk and looked at it. Now if you are an artist, you know you can't keep your hands off the painting if something needs to be fixed. So I spent about 20 minutes with it and I think I can post it now.<br /><br />It was a bit whimsical to start with but when I finished touching it up, it is now definitely whimsical!<br /><br />I darkened some of the colors as it was pretty low on contrast. Then I scanned it in... On the computer you can often get a good idea of what needs to be fixed next. It was still too pastel. So I did a wash of a golden brown over the whole painting. I knew I needed a pretty wide brush so that I wouldn't wipe out the painting with a lot of small brushstrokes. I grabbed my trusty <a href="http://sterlingedwards.com/workszoom/1450244/sterlings-signature-blending-glazing-brush" target="_blank"><b><i>Sterling Edwards</i></b><i style="font-weight: bold;">&nbsp;</i>flat brush</a> and painted a light wash over the painting. I love those brushes! It's a must have. Visit the link, Sterling also has a bunch of free painting demos too.<br /><br />Ok, back to the painting. After the wash was dry, I lifted some of the white in the sheep and surprise! A halo also developed! So suddenly I had a title as well: Angel of the Morning.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JuGBYYCGxm8/VNzr92CRqVI/AAAAAAAAAyw/cYwoWsYIImE/s1600/Angel-of-the-Morning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JuGBYYCGxm8/VNzr92CRqVI/AAAAAAAAAyw/cYwoWsYIImE/s1600/Angel-of-the-Morning.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Angel of the Morning</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">8" x 10" Watercolor on 140 lb. WC Paper</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Cform%20target=%22paypal%22%20action=%22https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr%22%20method=%22post%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22cmd%22%20value=%22_s-xclick%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22hidden%22%20name=%22hosted_button_id%22%20value=%22L7R6M2EAPZAJY%22%3E%20%3Cinput%20type=%22image%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif%22%20border=%220%22%20name=%22submit%22%20alt=%22PayPal%20-%20The%20safer,%20easier%20way%20to%20pay%20online!%22%3E%20%3Cimg%20alt=%22%22%20border=%220%22%20src=%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%3E%20%3C/form%3E" target="_blank">$100</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Click on price to purchase. US shipping free</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Contact me for international shipping costs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now on to the daily painting for today! What to paint? I am doing watercolor all this week, now for the subject matter...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-66537287354838697172015-02-10T21:41:00.000-07:002015-02-12T11:18:40.706-07:00Day 2, A Painting a Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvTar9OH-os/VNraQnP_EaI/AAAAAAAAAyg/NpJrFGSMADE/s1600/Girl%2Bwith%2BDogsz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvTar9OH-os/VNraQnP_EaI/AAAAAAAAAyg/NpJrFGSMADE/s1600/Girl%2Bwith%2BDogsz.jpg" height="320" width="174" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Today wasn't my usual schedule. Even though it is only day 2 for my painting a day, I found I had to really make an effort to get my painting done. Here it is 9:30 PM and I am only posting it to my blog now! If I wasn't trying to do a painting a day, I probably wouldn't have finished it today. So see, it's doing me good already!&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This painting is 11" x 6" on 140 lb. watercolor paper. It is painted to the edge. It is titled</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&nbsp;"A Girl and Her Dog".&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It is available for sale here:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">&nbsp;$85</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="paypal"><div style="text-align: center;"><input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" /><input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="GXRYMV3F8U5NN" /><input alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" border="0" name="submit" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif" type="image" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Free shipping in the US</div><div style="text-align: center;">Contact me for international shipping</div></form><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-24247831400480966642015-02-09T14:00:00.000-07:002015-02-09T14:00:47.931-07:00A Painting A DayI recently read a book by Carol Marine called Daily Painting. Carol discovered daily painting in 2006. Her theory is paint small and often to become a more creative, productive, and successful artist.<br />I agree that if an artist would do that daily, they are bound to improve their art.<br /><br />Since that is one of my new year resolutions to improve, daily painting makes sense to me. Another thing that Carol talked about is selling your daily painting online for $100. So today I begin my daily painting! My first painting is a study in watercolor, titled "A New Day"<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-91ceXtw7CVU/VNkciJpBhbI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/O4gaCgb0Wpo/s1600/A-New-Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-91ceXtw7CVU/VNkciJpBhbI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/O4gaCgb0Wpo/s1600/A-New-Day.jpg" height="245" width="320" /></a></div><br />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; A New Day - 8" x 10" Watercolor<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;$100&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;">Free Shipping in US</div>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <br /><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top"><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /></div></form><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top"><div style="text-align: center;"><input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" /><input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="32ATDUEDABA82" /><input alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" border="0" name="submit" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynowCC_LG.gif" type="image" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /></div></form><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-14012775750850170562015-01-30T17:29:00.003-07:002015-01-30T17:29:44.991-07:00A Commission that Takes the Cake!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hbmnW0p1iRs/VMweEauplHI/AAAAAAAAAx8/Fv-tg0OZlF4/s1600/Mahaszblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hbmnW0p1iRs/VMweEauplHI/AAAAAAAAAx8/Fv-tg0OZlF4/s1600/Mahaszblog.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></div>This week I have been busy with working on this commission. It is done, hooray! Maha, the client is very pleased with it. That is always good. :-) Maha has her own business called Arty Cake. She decorates beautiful cakes with butter cream frosting, and has won many awards. Here is her website:<br />http://artycakes.co.uk/serving.htm<br />She is a very good artist.<br /><br />Tonight I am going to the Hogle Zoo Art Show. I didn't enter this year but had a lot of friends that did. So it will fun to see them and their artwork.<br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-59036729636702709962015-01-21T12:40:00.000-07:002015-01-21T12:40:18.013-07:00A Commission for Arty Cakes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G1_u_E7x2eg/VL_8WNv5-dI/AAAAAAAAAxs/E7WKN2SGpN4/s1600/Mah-Drawingsz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G1_u_E7x2eg/VL_8WNv5-dI/AAAAAAAAAxs/E7WKN2SGpN4/s1600/Mah-Drawingsz.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div><br />I was contacted last week about doing a watercolor commission for a lady in England who has her own business called Arty Cakes.<br /><br />When I do a commission, I work from a photo generally. In this case, she didn't have one with the cake she wanted in the painting, If you can't tell from the drawing, it is a hat with flowers on it. I had to use photoshop elements to create the image to paint from by combining different images she had emailed me.<br /><br />She makes beautiful cakes, many that are florals. She is really an artist herself with butter cream frosting!<br /><br />I had to enhance the drawing so all the pencil lines show clearly, but it also makes the background a bit grayed because of doing that. It really isn't gray at all. In my process of doing a commission, I then send the drawing for the client's approval. I also ask for any suggestions if they have any. I find that helps in producing a final painting that the client will be satisfied with.<br /><br />Once approved, I then paint it. I will post progress of this painting in the next day or so.<br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107549.post-29661017309622840862015-01-16T12:00:00.000-07:002015-01-16T13:46:25.153-07:00Watercolor Studies Continues; The Midnight Bunny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I1yM6HlU5c0/VLlWwrLEE2I/AAAAAAAAAxc/1-8w0OkLjSA/s1600/MidnightBunnysz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I1yM6HlU5c0/VLlWwrLEE2I/AAAAAAAAAxc/1-8w0OkLjSA/s1600/MidnightBunnysz.jpg" height="320" width="242" /></a></div><br />Today I completed another study, this time of a bunny. As I am doing these studies, I am trying out different kinds of paper, graphite pencils and color palettes. The bunny today was painted on 90 lb. Arches Cold Press. It is too thin for my liking, but wasn't too bad to paint on. Because of it's light weight, it absorbs the water like a sponge all the way through. That can result in a unflat painting when you are finished painting. Last night I put weights on the 'Vintage Lady' Painitng which I mentioned in my previous post. It was painted on this same arches 90 lb. paper. I sprayed the back of the painting with water, put a paper towel over it, then a heavy book with 2 three pound exercise weights (gotta use those weights for something!)<br /><br />This morning I looked at the Vintage Lady painting to see if it was dry. It was and it was pretty flat. not perfectly flat, but reasonably flat and ready to mount in a mat.<br /><br />Ok, so back to Midnight Bunny. As mentioned I have been trying different graphite pencils to do my sketch for the painting. This time I used a 6B. I liked it, you could get a nice dark if you want. On Vintage Lady I used a HB. Which is very hard. It was a lot lighter lead color and didn't smear much.<br /><br />If you don't want your lead to show up in your watercolor, the HB is pretty good for that.<br /><br />On Midnight Bunny, I used the same color palette as I did on "Vintage Lady". Three colors; cobalt blue, rose madder genuine, and azo yellow. Although I used a lot of layers on this painting and it has some darks, it still has some luminousity in places. I guess that's what you get when you use transparent paint, right?<br /><br />In this painting I lifted color out on the bunny, the grass, and around the moon. A few years ago I took a workshop from Joseph Alleman, and he lifts color out. His work is wonderful and he has the awards to show fpr it. Here's his website:&nbsp;<a href="http://josephalleman.com/" target="_blank">josephalleman.com</a><br /><br />Look at Joe's paintings, especially those that have darks in them and see if you can see where he has lifted the paint out. If you are new to watercolor, you may not know what this means. When you put several layers of color on the paper, you can go back after it's dried with a wet brush and lift out spots. I you look at the bottom of my bunny painting, you can see blades of grass that I have lifted out.<br /><br />I am finding as I am doing these studies, that I have picked up and implement some things from the people I have taken workshops from. I hadn't realized that I had done this till now as I am re-evaluating my painting skills.<br /><br />I have to admit that as I got into this bunny painting, I wasn't liking the way it was turning out, but committed myself to finishing it. Lifting really saved it. It's not a great painting,but it is ok and was a valuable study. The purpose of doing studies is not only to practice, but to also find what techniques and color palettes I like and don't like. So I am satisfied with what I learned today.<br /><br />How's your painting coming along?<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://twitter.com/CathyDarling</div>Catherine Darlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05531479930635936146noreply@blogger.com0